MECOOL M8S PRO W Review: Android TV Box powered by Amlogic S905W

MECOOL M8S PRO W is one of the first TV Boxes equipped with the new Amlogic S905W which we could test. We are after the test, so today we want to introduce you to MECOOL M8S PRO W review. As you remember new Amlogic S905W which is cheaper than the AmlogicS905X and supports [email protected] video and is also an alternative (and competitive) for the cheap Rockchip RK3229. According to the marketing brochures, the S905W (Cortex-A53) is faster and more efficient than the Cortex-A7 (RK3229). M8S PRO W TV Box is one of the budget TV Boxes, is it worth to buy it? Find the answer in this review.

I want to say thanks to Banggood store for sending us a MECOOL M8S PRO W TV Box to review. Now MECOOL M8S PRO W is available on Banggood for$39.99 + free shipping.

MECOOL M8S PRO W TV Box is made solidly, with good quality, no glossy plastic. The housing has a lot of holes on the sides, so there should be no problem with ventilation. As we said at the beginning of his heart is Amlogic S905W 64bit Quad core Cortex A53 processor which supports [email protected] UHD H.264/H.265/VP9 video. Device runs on Android 7.1.1. The front panel has IR receiver and power LED. On one side are two USB ports USB 2.0 and micro SD card slot. On the rear panel are: AV port, RJ45 Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0 port, DC jack.

On the bottom there are holes for good ventilation and MAC address. At the bottom of the device there are also four rubber pads to prevent shifting. Below also remote control.

MECOOL M8S PRO W has well-known UI that we could see in earlier MECOOL TV Boxes or YOKA TV Boxes.

We can chose typical the resolution of FHD 1920×1080 (1080p 60Hz) but you can also adjust the preferred resolution or set the auto switch. In advanced options. Good news for people who need to have the manual at hand, the TV Box has a User Manual app on the main screen with document and video description. Everything worked stable and very quickly without delays. TV Box support DLNA and Miracast. We had no problem with Ethernet and WiFi connection to router and to Internet, but Wifi connection could be faster. (Ethernet: Download – 93.50Mbps Upload – 39.36Mbps, WiFi: Download – 15.61Mbps Upload – 17.44Mbps).M8S PRO W supports Netflix up to 720p and 1080p Youtube.In addition to the remote control, we used a standard keyboard, mouse andiPega PG-9076 gamepad with USB receiver (TV Box does not have bluetooth). The M8S PRO W TV Box has exactly 16GB storage. The TV Box comes with a pre-installed TV CENTER 17.3 application based on Kodi 17.3. We also installed the latest Kodi 17.6. If you need to control TV Box via smartphone, you can use great application called CetusPlay (Install CetusPlay On TV/Box app on TV box and open, Install CetusPlay on a smartphone). Most Google Play store apps (for testing) were not compatible with the TV Box. We had to install them from external memory. Below some screenshots.

On M8S PRO Wsimple games from Google Play are working properly. You can play without a problem just connect gamepad or keyboard. We used iPega PG-9076 gamepad with USB receiver (TV Box does not have bluetooth). Beach Buggy Racing, Real Racing 3, Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8 works without problem, even with high resolution works trouble free.

Operating system and components

The MECOOL M8S PRO W TV Box runs on the Android 7.1.1 Nougat with the Linux Kernel version 3.14.29. M8S PRO W TV Box comes with firmware build number M8S PRO W-userdebug 7.1.1 NHG47L 20171017.1121143.V0619 (OTA version 90636002). TV Box is equipped with the new a SoC Amlogic S905W quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz (but the CPU-Z application shows a maximum clock speed of 1.2GHz) processor and GPU ARM Mali-450MP, CPU speed between 100 MHz and 1.20 GHz. On the following screens, you can see exactly the components used and their specification (Information taken from the CPU-Z app). Below screenshots.

After using the DRM info (app) we know that M8S PRO W TV Boxsupports Google Widevine Moudlar DRM, but unfortunately does not support Microsoft Playready DRM, Marlin DRM and Verimatrix VCAS. The device also has root access.

Performance tests and benchmarks

For testing, we use the AnTuTuVideoTester3.0 app andAnTuTuBenchmark 6.2.7. The result 844. Also worthy of note is that M8S PRO W TV Boxdid not have not supported codecs.

Video playback by TV CENTER 17.3 and Kodi 17.6 Krypton runs almost smoothly and stable. TheM8S PRO Wwithoutproblem seemsplays movieswiththe resolution of 480p,720p and 1080p (24fps, 30fps, 60fps)and also 4K (30fps) with various codecs video such as H.264,H.265, MPEG2, MPEG4, RMVB and audio – DTS and AC3. Dolby Digital 5.1 passthrough worked fine via HDMI. Also we tested severalvideoformats – AVI,MKV, MP4 (typical formats in which it holds the majority of movies), ISO and also videoswasplayed fine. The tested TV Box plays video files in 4K (30fps, for 60fps it was not smooth, jumping and / or artifacts) almost without any major problems. As we mentioned, TV Box supports Youtube FHD (1080p). Also, we tried to play VP9 4K video runs smoothly.

MECOOL M8S PRO W is a good budget TV box. It does not have great performance, but in normal operation, it works well, works stably and fast. Most of the video playback samples in 4K did not always work smoothly or there were sound delays, but the video up to [email protected] worked fine. Most of the tested films from the home library work well. Considering that the TV Box is from MECOOL brand with firmware updates should not be a problem. In our opinion, this budget TV box is worth considering buying. If you have a limited budget and do not care about playing 4K video (more than [email protected]) and you do not need bluetooth then this TV Box should satisfy you.